Treatment of reaction process apparatus



Dec. 26, 1933. R. T. POLLOCK 1,941,271

TREATMENT OF REACTION PROCESS APPARATUS Filed Dec. 19, 1927 O/L SUPPL Y 73 3. Wfw

11 A TTORNE Y.

Patented Dec. 26, 1933 s V r I I TREATMENT DF REACTION PROCESS;

,7 APPARATUS 1 Robert '1. Pollock,New York, N. Y., assignor to William S; G1uck, New York,'N. Y j hpp ioati fiecember;19,,1927 I 1 'S erial No.241,199

n s V I is cla ms.- 401." 19 -47 I I h I I, My invention is directed toa process fortreat state, the surface of- ,the metal; takeson a ing apparatus for carrying out reactionssuch as crystalline change,- which gives such surface are used, in the productionof gases andvapors, somewhat :the characteristics of what; isiknown as by the distillationand-cracking of materials concase hardening;thus increasing the resistivity of taining them in liquid phase, in metal-walled such surface of the metal to, injury. Y

reactionchambers, or in the, presence of metal; My present invention contemplates the pracparts or elements More particularly, my inventice of reaction processes of the'characterv retion involves the elimination of erosion, corrosion, ferred to, by preliminarily giving this gas treat- .destruction or disruption of the metallicchamment of metals, if I may so term it, to the metal 10 bers, vessels or parts due to the action of the surface or to the interiorsurface orsurfaces of 35 gases, incident to thereaction processes, and coa metallic piping, vat, chamber or .container, ordinately involves the elimination from the rewhich is to be employed in, the reaction process, action process of the destruction of the metallic and in which there are present injurious gases parts or wall structure, and alsoeffectiveztemperature conditions, so as In commercial processesin which freegasesor '00 increase the resistance of the metallic surface 70 vapors are present, employed or producedllan d exposed to thegas or gases present in'the reacalso in processes carried on in the presenceof, or ItiO'n D CeSSeS,- and o husfreduce, and, in fact; accompaniedby effective heat-,-or both, it is a, eliminate, :to. a greater extent, the destructive, welleknown fact t ta m part s pjpes, at corrosive .action of such gasbr gases upon the containers and the likesulfer fromrthe. destrucmetallic'surface exposed to suchaction. I 75 tive action of the gases to which they-are sub- III'the accompanying w I h v ill r r jegted This is parfigularlyftrue h r hi h tively shown'a container-within. which. a chemtemperatures are employed I V I o i'cal reaction. is to be effected in accordance with Various attempts to minimize onwholly, elimig a contemplated'process, suchas petroleum cracknate this destructive action by specifically prens, and therein! -v o it so paring thev metals, and :particularly that suri r lis'intended to show p ly e face thereof which is j t t h corrosive effect'of my treatmentuponthesurface of a part action, e been made aExamp1es 15 Such 3. of this apparatus, .a similar effect, being produced tempts are the plating of the surface of the metal in those other Portions of e apparatus 110 Which so with chromium, aluminum, 'le'ad, and-.thelike. e i e cases a pp d, as e e nafter set 85 Whileosuch characteroftreatment. of themetal f andv v frequently; has some beneficial effects, yet': the i ure 2 showsyfor purposes of p fic i n destructive. action onthe walls of the containers, an oibcrackingprocess apparatus in tion vats, pipes or the like in processes such-as the with which my treatment is illustratedias .emfractional distillationof oils, andzparticularlythe"P QY Y I 1 oil cracking. processes, are large and still; con- I'will-describe my invention specifically in continue, .so that constantreplacement of the walls nectionwith the oil cracking process because. or of the; vats, containers and. pipes are, necessary thetremendous corrosive action which occurs in from time to time. q 01 that industry. Before proceeding to describe -10 I have found'that chromiumplat'in'g, for ex-v this application of my inv i n, I will premise c5 ample, is defective because chromium cannot althat in this process oil is fed'through pipes ina ways be deposited on steel in what I term a' -perfurnace and "there subjectedto a temperature ,of

fectisheet or layer, 'andthusfar,-no-methodhas about 800to1000 F. and to a pressure'running been found for accomplishingthis purposewithfrom 60 to 800 lbs. Inthe oil crackingoperation,

out'leaving fissures, cracks and the like, which "a great'number of gases are released, and'under 1C0" necessarily neutralizes any beneficialefiect, and, the temperature and pressure conditions presinfact, may increase 'thetroublebecause of the e'ntin'such process, it has beenifound by experielectrolytic. action whichi ensues -where two once that some ofthese gases under these condimetals are exposed to a fluid, vapor orgas as will 'tionshave an extremely destructive action' p be the case where-chromium plating presents a the steel surface subject to theaction'of' the 10 fissure. I o I gases. -Inthepractical ap'plicationof myin- I have found that when a metal such as, steel vention, and as a preliminary step to thepractice is subjected to the action of certain gases such of the, reaction process, I treat the metalsurface as hydrogen, nitrogemcarbon monoxide,-:and the or surfaces which are exposed. to the. reaction like, particularly'when such gas is in' a nascent gases",-temperatures and pressures, with a gas said reaction under the conditions aforemen tioned.

I have found that unless my preliminary step in the reaction process of giving the metal sur-.

face the gas treatment is made at temperature conditions and also under pressure conditions, where pressure conditions are afacto'r, higher than the corresponding conditions that exist in the oil cracking process or any other similar'process or reaction in connection with which my invention is to be employed, a reverse action in the crystalline structure of the exposed metallic s'ur face Will-result and the increased'resi'stivity of the metal to gases disappear, r Therefore,"another important object of myin vention is the practice, as the preliminary step in the reaction process aforementioned, of the gas treatment of the surface of metals, metal parts and metal containers to be exposed to gases, under conditions, which Vary with the particular reaction process to which my invention is a preliminary step. This variation will depend upon the temperaturesand pressureconditions of the gases present, and to which the metal surfaces are subjected in the reaction process. For example, in the'oil cracking process, where, as stated, there are numerous injurious gases present, a substantial pressure and a temperature of anywhere from 800.to -l00'0 F., I have found that unless the aforementioned preliminary step of metal treatment is madeat temperature conditions higher than the operating conditions of the cracking process, there will be atendency for a re'verse action to be effected in the cracking process. By this I mean that, for example, if I should practice my preliminary treatment by subjecting a metal part to be used in the .oil cracking process to a temperature of, for example, 500 F., I find by practical experience that, While the resistivity of the metalsurface to the action of reaction gases is in a sense increased, yet, when the surfaceof the'metal so treated is exposed to the cracking process and to the opcrating conditions thereof such as a temperature of 850 that there will be a tendency forthis operating temperature, which is higher than the original treatment temperature of the me'tal,.to reverse the action, and for the metal to lose its increased resistivity to gases. As another instance, I have found that where I have taken a piece of steel and treated it in accordance with the method herein disclosed by me, .by subjecting thesteel to the 'action of nascent hydrogen gas at a temperature of 125 F., thatI have ob- 'tained a surface for the metal which shows a greatly increased resistance to injury, but that if this piece of steel should be placed in boiling water at a temperature, for example, of 212 F., for several hours, the steel will have lost the beneficial characteristics of resistivity originally given to it by the treatment of 'a nascent hydrogen gas atatemperature of 125 F., V

While my invention is of general application, it has a specific application in connection with industries in which vats, containerssand pipes are to be used, because I find that I can take a completed vator pipe made of low1carbon steel, for

I tneprevention ferred to.

example, and, merely by closing the vat or the pipe, produce or introduce into the closed chamber thus formed a gas or gases such as hydrogen, nitrogen, or carbon monoxide, and preferably in a nascent state, 'under the proper conditions of high temperature and pressure so that the interior surface of such hollow body can be treated so as to affect a change in the surface structure in accordance with my invention, and thus increase the resistivity of such surface to the destructive action hitherto present. The advan'tage'of this arrangement and process is that the vat itself can be used as the chamber within which my treatment may be practiced and the predetermined conditions produced and controlled. In fact, my process can be employed in "connection with a vat already installed, i. e.

insitu, to increase the resistivity of its interior surface as already described.

In the apparatus illustrated in Figure 2, which relatesto an -oilcracking process, a furnace is is shown which serves to heat the cracking coils 11 in which the fresh oil-is subjected to the cracking process. The products of the reaction are led into an expansion chamber $1 2, by means of the pipe 13. EF'rom theflexpan'sion chamber'the'va 'pcrs are led, by vapor line 14 into the dephleg mater-15 from which the products are led into the condenser- 16' and the receivingtank 1?.

The expansion chamber may be provided witha suitableoutlet 18 for drawing oil the heavyresi- "dues that settle in it. r

In Figure '1," the numeral 20 -indicates the change in the metal surface as a result of the application of 'my chamber 12. i r

One method of employing my process 'mi'ght consist of setting up theapparatus entirely as shown. in Figure 2am thenintrodu'eing at the inlet end the gases required for'the process, heatiligtliem by furnaceoperation, and :by proper controls placing thegases under the-desired'temperature and pressure; conditions and letting them circulate throughout the channels through rocess to the expansion Fl which the oil-willcirculate inthecrackingsystem,

and permitting th'is treaitment tocontinne for'the "period already herein set fortmand then ova-cu ating the entire system of the gases, after which it w'ill be ready 'forcarryiing on the ordinary room'- m erc-ial oi l -"cracking process; l V

In connection with the'oil cracking process,rny invention contemplates as the preliminary step the introduction into or productionin thec'losed va -t, rorexample, of a gasrsuch as nascent nitrogen undera temperature of, say,ii2oo and a I pressure of 800 lbs. for a period or about twentyfour hours. I employ "a temperature of 1200 F,, as that will ordinarily be sufficient; Atempera ture of 1500 F. I have found will makecertain secure by LettersIPa-tentfis; V,

' 1. In'an' oil cracking process wherein a :c-hemic'al reaction within a "steel container develops "gases inju-r-ious'tothe steel of said container, the

heroin -"described method of increasing the resist-- ance to suc'h injury of the inner surface of said container, which' 'consistsinprelimiriarilyihtror ducing into said container while closed a nascent gas having ahardening effect on steel surfaces and of the group which includes hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide, underhigh temper,-

ature conditions of the; order. of .1200

of reverse actionalroady re- 1 2. in an oil cracking process wherein a chemical reaction within a steel container and under high temperature conditions develops gases injurious to steel, the herein-describedmethodv of increasing the resistance of the inner surface of said container to such injury, which consists in preliminarily introducing into said container while closed a gas having a hardening effect on steel surfaces and of the group which includes hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide, under temperature conditions higher than those under which said reaction is to be carried out insaid container.

3. In an oil-cracking process wherein a chemical reaction in a steel container develops gases includes hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon mon- 1 oxide, at a temperature exceeding approximately vl200 F.

a ROBERT 'r. POLLOCK.- 

